I'm in my 30s, my sister's in her late twenties & married, and my daughter's 14. My parents still have presents for all 3 of us (plus the cat and the dog) "from Santa". I don't think we ever stopped pretending we believed; I'm also not even sure when Mum clicked that we didn't
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My mom would throw a "present" on the roof above the door in the winter. Something water proof. She would also have to hide wrapping paper because I noticed that mom and santa used the same kind. XD
I "believed" well into my teens. Mostly because I had a younger sister and had to encourage it in her.
Then again this is the woman that somehow convinced me in first grade that meatballs grew on trees... to the point were I got sent to the principles office and she had to be called in from work to explain to both the principle and the teacher why she thought it was a good idea to convince me of that.
I was a very naive kid... Haven't gotten much better... Just have a slightly more dirty outlook on things now.. :snerk:
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I really never understood the trauma of learning that there isn't a Santa Claus... part of that may have been because I was raised (and intend to raise any kids that I eventually have) with the concept that Santa isn't so much a person as an idea. Santa is the idea of generosity during Christmas. I know my mom was upset once about a teacher saying there was no Santa, not because she was concerned it had traumatized us, but that the teacher had missed the point of the Santa myth and besides, it wasn't the type of thing that should have been brought up during a math lesson in the first place.If you wish to find meaning, listen to the music not the song
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I really never understood the trauma of learning that there isn't a Santa Claus... part of that may have been because I was raised (and intend to raise any kids that I eventually have) with the concept that Santa isn't so much a person as an idea. Santa is the idea of generosity during Christmas. I know my mom was upset once about a teacher saying there was no Santa, not because she was concerned it had traumatized us, but that the teacher had missed the point of the Santa myth and besides, it wasn't the type of thing that should have been brought up during a math lesson in the first place.
Still curious to know what brought the subject up in your math class though.
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Quoth Limescale View Post
Still curious to know what brought the subject up in your math class though.
Keep in mind, this was an elementary school, just barely starting on division class, not a high school, I'm going to give you an easy division problem because I feel bad for you class.
Edit- in retrospect, I can see how it would have been a useful question given division was worked on right before the winter break, but at the same time, "your grandma lives 500 miles away, if your dad does the drive in 10 hours, how many miles per hour was he travelling."If you wish to find meaning, listen to the music not the song
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Scroll down to "Christmas in 3D for a couple of parents who not only took it waaaay too far, but are STILL DOING IT.
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When our older daughter figured it out, she asked us.
"Are you Santa?" she asked us, flat out.
My wife and I looked at each other, and then I came out with the right thing to say.
"Yes. We are Santa. Your grandparents are also Santa. So are your uncles and aunts. And now, so are you. Your younger sister hasn't figured it out yet, so now you get to help us on being Santa, until she's old enough to help, too"
Instead of making her feel like a fool for believing us, we convinced her it was a game, and that now it was her turn to help us.
In the fullness of time, our younger one figured it out, but we did the same thing - we made her part of the Santa team.
Sometimes, I feel as though I've said the right thing. I feel that this was one of those times.Experience is knowing how not to get your teeth kicked in - again. -- The Freethinker
"And that... entitles you to no mercy at all, no matter what." -- from Going Postal by Terry Pratchett
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I worked out that there was no such thing as Father Christmas at the age of six, when I noticed that his handwriting and my mum's were the same. XD I wasn't traumatised, just felt smug about having figured it out. Of course, my parents told me to not tell my little brothers cuz they still believed.
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I would not feel guilty if I were you. I have no idea how old the kid was, but if it believed what you said so quickly, then I doubt it would have believed in Santa for much longer anyway.
When I worked in a call centre, I got accused by a woman of ruining her kids christmas because I refused to waive the over $1000 she owed from unpaid internet bills and have her service reconnected the same day (24 December), and all she had got for her kids for christmas was computer games which they needed the internet to be able to play
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Quoth Thud-n-Blunder View PostWhen our older daughter figured it out, she asked us. "Are you Santa?" she asked us, flat out. -snip-
Quoth Lace Neil Singer View Postwhen I noticed that his handwriting and my mum's were the same.
This is also why we tend to keep a separate roll of wrapping paper out of sight to wrap Santa's gifts in (and why my parents decided to skip wrapping Santa's gifts at all). So the kids couldn't go, "Wait...that's our wrapping paper....""Enough expository banter. It's time we fight like men. And ladies. And ladies who dress like men. For Gilgamesh...IT'S MORPHING TIME!"
- Gilgamesh, Final Fantasy V
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Quoth Lace Neil Singer View PostI worked out that there was no such thing as Father Christmas at the age of six, when I noticed that his handwriting and my mum's were the same.
eta- right after posting this, I remember I had a friend who was a massive Santa believer who was convinced that the note was fake and I should be outraged, because clearly Santa was having his elves write the letters for himIf you wish to find meaning, listen to the music not the song
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I believed Santa was an entity not dissimilar to God. So were the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy and all the others. I guess I made my own angels, and called them Santa and Easter Bunny and so forth. Because of that, the impossibilities of Santa or the Easter Bunny's achievements didn't matter. If God can perform miracles, why can't Santa?
Because of this, when a friend of mine told me that her father was one of Santa's helpers, it offended me! Santa didn't need helpers!
Once when I was very small, I was "helping" my mother wash the walls.
"Mum, does God like clean walls?"
"I don't know, dear. Why don't you ask him?"
I walked out onto the verandah. Looked up at the sky. "God, do you like clean walls?"
Came back in. "He said he did."
A few minutes later.
"Mum, does Santa like clean walls?"
"Why don't you ask him?"
Back to the verandah. "Santa, do you like clean walls?"
<a moment's pause, then>
"No, not you God! You've had your turn!"Seshat's self-help guide:
1. Would you rather be right, or get the result you want?
2. If you're consistently getting results you don't want, change what you do.
3. Deal with the situation you have now, however it occurred.
4. Accept the consequences of your decisions.
"All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." - Anders, Dragon Age.
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